The Treemakers by
Christina L. Rozelle (C.L. Rozelle)
(I received a copy of this book from the author via Instafreebie )
Stay on guard. Be aware of your surroundings. Notice the nuances. Cover your tracks. Always be prepared. Question everything. This is how you stay alive, Joy. And this is how you keep the ones you love alive.
Sixteen-year-old Joy Montgomery, daughter of Zephyr the Magnificent, the great magician, can only reminisce of better times. Before the Superiors. Before the uprisings. Long ago. Before the dying Earth ripped the family she loved away from her.
In this desolate dystopian future, the Greenleigh orphans are “privileged” with the task of building mechanical trees for Bygonne, so their world behind The Wall can breathe another day, and so the Superiors may continue their malevolent reign.
Lured by a yearning for freedom, tenacious curiosity, and hunger for adventure, Joy discovers hope and magic amid the misery, and power in her promise to care for those remaining, whom she loves enough to risk her life for. To save them, herself, and the boy she adores from the abuse and slavery by the Superiors, Joy must entrust the aid of an unlikely ally who harbors a dangerous secret.
With an intriguing stranger at the helm, Joy and the treemakers embark on an intense and terrifying, yet liberating quest for the truth about the existence of the forbidden paradise beyond The Wall.
Note - There are mature themes such as abuse, character deaths and a certain amount of gore in the book.
I loved the treemakers and honestly, can you blame me? These poor little kids have been living in pathetic conditions for years now; a place where death isn't new, where they have to look after each other... a place where it's better to die than live.
Joy is an amazing protagonist. I loved her caring and motherly nature. She is also incredibly brave and strong. There were times when I wanted to reach into the book, take Joy by the shoulders and say "You go girl!" Her reactions to the love, loss and betrayal were splendidly depicted making her all the more believable to readers.
"You don’t realize how big somebody was in your life, until you measure the space of their absence."
"Take the dark with the light and build on."
My next favourite character is Smudge. While I can't talk about her without giving away stuff, I'm just gonna say that I enjoyed her character development a lot throughout the story.
Little Chloe was another character who I liked. The horrible nature of the setting stands out clear when we see innocent and sweet Chloe. While she doesn't have a huge role in the overall plot, it is her and the other treemaker kids who help in setting the tone of the setting.
This book takes the cake for most unique Dystopian book ever! At the beginning I was a bit like -Ohkaayy..What's going on here?- because we're just thrown into the middle of it all but soon enough the author explains stuff without any sort of info-dumping which I appreciate a lot!
The story is fast paced and yet made me impatient because I was dying to know what happens next! Also this book broke my heart at many points. When I saw the huge number of characters and the slightly horrific beginning, I knew there will be deaths but despite walking in knowingly, there were deaths that crumpled me a bit.
Also the PLOT TWISTS! I pitied the characters. When things change at such breakneck speeds how can anyone be expected to have A MOMENT OF PEACE? Honestly, there were plot twists I wasn't expecting at all, especially the very last one!
There was a little thing that bothered me in this book. Insta-love. The looked-at-him/her-and-immediately-fell-head-over-heels-in-love kinda thing. While that doesn't play a huge role in the bigger plot, it did annoy me a bit. But other than that, no complaints!
"How awesome-- and tragic-- that all magic is man-made."
There is a beautiful quality to Rozelle's writing that didn't allow me to put down the book (Technically my phone seeing as it's an ebook...okay, I'll disappear). If it hadn't been for the mundane tasks of the real world, I'd have finished this story in a single sitting. The writing is descriptive and quite vivid without trying too hard. Truly enjoyed the writing and there are so many amazing quotes in this book!
"When the secrets are revealed, you’ll see the way the magic works."
"Everything dies, yet, nothing's ever really dead."
- The Characters
- The plot
- The writing
- The Quotes (Does that come under writing? I think it counts as a totally different point.)
- The insta-love
I highly recommend this book for lovers of dystopian books. Guys, it's a must-read! There is quite a bit of science fiction but not enough for the book to be classified solely as Science fiction. Will be reading book two soon!
View all my reviews
I looove dystopians, so thank you for bringing this book to my attention! It sounds awesome, and I'm so glad you loved it! Also, what a cool cover ^_^ Great review!
ReplyDeleteBrittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles
You're welcome :) I tend to be a little wary of dystopian coz urgh, the FEELS! But can't deny they're awesome :) I'm glad you think so :) Thank you!
DeleteWe absolutely love dystopians so we think we'll give this book a try! Wouldn't many novels be considered insta-love anyway, because the chemistry happens almost straight-away? If its the most original dystopian you've read, that only strengthens our resolve to read this novel. Nice review by the way!! :):)
ReplyDeleteYes I do agree that many novels lately seem to have insta-love. I like to see some build up time for romances though :) Yes it is definitely a really original dystopian story!
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